The Hackney Green Party and its mayoral candidate Mischa Borris are promising to introduce Hackney’s own local currency – the Hackney Pound.

It hopes the unique currency, similar to a scheme launched in Brixton in 2009, will help local businesses by keeping more money circulating in the borough.

Labour’s affordable housing policy is being slammed by the party, who say the current council “regularly fail to meet its ‘aspirational’ target” of 50 per cent affordable housing in new developments.

The Greens also hope to introduce mandatory licensing for private landlords, which would force all landlords to register with the council.

Fair pay is also top of their agenda, pledging to introduce a 1:10 pay ratio at Town Hall, meaning no employee would receive more than 10 times the pay of the lowest paid worker.

Following the party’s national pledges, Green councillors hope to campaign to include Hackney in Boris Johnson’s ultra low emission zones network, meaning only zero and low-emission vehicles would be allowed in the borough.

The party want to install solar panels on the borough’s roofs, and will offer shares to the public “as a form of ethical investment.”

Ms Borris and her party oppose the coalition government’s scrapping of the education maintenance allowance, and hope to investigate alternative ways to fund students who meet the financial criteria for help.

Ms Borris told the Gazette: “Whether under Labour or Tories, Hackney has always had high levels of deprivation - I’m appalled that there is a need for food banks in one of the world’s richest countries.

“I also share the frustration of many local people at the Labour council’s apparent reluctance to stand up for local people against developers. Just blaming everything on evil Tories isn’t good enough.”